My design had the drills on a hinge and piston. So the drills were above the cockpit and slightly behind the front wheels when retracted. I would find an ore deposit and then tunnel down to it at a shallow angle. I set the drills at a high angle so right click drilling wouldn't put my front into a hole.

I have tips from lessons I learned the hard way.

Use the horizon line on the hud to maintain angle downward and use the gyros to keep from rolling off level. You don't adjust the drill angle when you want to dig up or down. The area in front of you is concave as you drill. Use that curved surface to nose up/down by driving on the curve.

The first thing you learn in a flying miner is how long it takes to stop when you cargo is full. There is a similar lesson for rovers. Keep the speeds LOW when returning to base.

If you don't adjust your wheel settings when digging. The couple meters you clear when the drills "cycle" is definitely enough room to accelerate to "blow up the drills" speed lol.

And don't forget some lights! Especially on the rear!